This Thai Chicken recipe is an easy way to make Gai Yang at home, Thailand’s famous barbecue chicken. It uses a fragrant Thai marinade that delivers street-stall delicious – without pounding pastes, lighting coals or wrestling a whole chicken! Serve with Coconut Rice and swoon.
Traditional Thai Chicken
If you’ve ever travelled through Thailand, you’ll know exactly what Gai Yang is and why I’m obsessed with it – smoky, savoury, aromatic Thai BBQ chicken sold by street vendors who churn out perfect chargrilled chicken all day long. It’s the kind of food that makes normally civilised humans revert to full caveman mode. Oh yes, you can totally picture me right??! Fred Flinstone would approve! 😀
Traditionally, whole butterflied chickens are marinated in a fragrant paste made by pounding ingredients like lemongrass and garlic with a mortar and pestle, then grilled slowly over charcoal until bronzed and juicy.
I wanted to recreate the flavour of authentic Gai Yang to make it more home-cook friendly. So I use boneless thighs, a stick blender for the marinade and cook it on the BBQ or stove. Simplifying street foods in this way can fall short – but for Gai Yang, the marinade is so good, it works great!
Ingredients in Marinated Thai Chicken – Gai Yang
My rule of thumb when cooking foods on a BBQ or stove rather than smoky charcoal is to dial up the marinade flavours to compensate for the absence of smoky flavour. That’s exactly what I’ve done here. 🙂
Boneless chicken thighs – Traditional Gai Yang in Thailand calls for cutting up a whole chicken and cooking it with the skin-on and bone-in. The best alternative cut that is easier to cook for juicy, flavour-packed Gai Yang is boneless chicken thighs. They stay tender, absorb marinade brilliantly and get those gorgeous caramelised edges!
Chicken breast and chicken tenders can be used too – the marinade helps retain juiciness inside. For breast, I’d either split them in half horizontally or pound to even thickness so they cook through more evenly, else the thinner end gets overcooked. I’ve popped directions in the recipe notes.
Lemongrass – A signature flavour of Gai Yang that is so distinctly South East Asian! It has an earthy lemon flavour and it is what makes this chicken special and sets it apart from just another soy-sauce-sugar marinade!
Tube paste option – I haven’t tried it for this recipe, but I’d probably use around 1 tablespoon as the flavour is much milder than using fresh lemongrass, especially as we blitz it in this recipe which releases a lot of flavour.
Garlic – Essential for building that classic Thai savoury base.
Fish sauce – Salty, savoury, and more flavour than soy. The smelly fishy flavour is gone once cooked! This is what makes it taste properly Thai.
Light AND dark soy sauce – I use soy sauce to add more salt into the marinade because using just fish sauce can be a bit too fishy. The dark soy sauce gives the chicken a beautiful bronzed finish while the light soy sauce adds the salt without darkening the chicken too much. Dark soy also has a much more intense soy sauce flavour so you need to use with restraint!
Substitutions – You can substitute: light soy with any all-purpose soy sauce or tamari, and the dark soy sauce with more light soy. But you cannot substitute the light soy sauce with dark soy because it is so intense, it will overwhelm the other flavours! More on different soy sauces here.Brown sugar – Balances the salty elements and helps the chicken caramelise for sticky, charry edges.
How to make Gai Yang – Thai Chicken (grilled or stove)
As mentioned above, I wanted to make Gai Yang more home-kitchen friendly, so I use a stick blender rather than mortar and pestle for the marinade, and cook it on the BBQ or stove. I particularly like using the BBQ because you get a bit of the street-food reminiscent smoky flavour, plus it’s easier to cook the entire batch in one go. Great for summer gatherings!
Blitz sliced lemongrass, whole garlic cloves and all the other marinade ingredients into a jug large enough to fit the head of a stick blender. Blitz until the lemongrass is pulverised into tiny bits (lemongrass is quite tough, not pleasant to bite into large chunks).
No stick blender? No worries! Just grate the lemongrass and garlic finely then mix it into the soy sauce etc by hand.
Marinate the chicken in the marinade overnight. 24 hours is best, to really get the flavours all through the meat. Absolute bare minimum is 3 hours.
No time to marinate? Slice up the chicken into bite-size strips, toss in the sauce then pan fry it. You could toss in some vegetables and make a stir-fry. 🙂
Cook the chicken in a pan or a BBQ on medium heat for about 5 to 6 minutes on each side until gorgeous bronzed with charred edges. (I use the grill side of the BBQ, not flat iron, it works better). Because of the sugar and dark soy in the marinade, the surface can burn very quickly so what I like to do is preheat the pan / BBQ on high, then I lower the heat to medium once I put the chicken on.
No oil – You shouldn’t need any oil if your BBQ is well greased or if you use a non-stick pan because the marinade has oil in it, and we’re using thighs which has some fat in it.
Burning? Flip multiple times rather than just once, oh, and lower the heat! 🙂
Rest the chicken for 3 to 5 minutes before serving. I just pile it straight onto the serving plate and leave it. If cooking in batches, loosely tent with foil to keep them warm and pile on top of each other.
Never skip resting! This step allows the juices to be re-absorbed into the meat fibres so they don’t spill out onto the plate when you cut into it.
What to serve with Gai Yang
Sauce – Traditionally, Gai Yang is served with a sauce called Nam Jim Jaew which is made with fish sauce, lime juice, sugar and finely chopped garlic, chillies, eschalots and green onion. You can dip pieces in or spoon it over the chicken so it also flavours the rice.
For a quicker sauce, you could also use the Sweet Chilli Sauce from the Thai Sweet Chilli Beef Bowls (similar flavours, no need to chop anything) or even just plonk a bottle of sweet chilli sauce on the table. 🙂
As for sides, serve with Jasmine rice, or even better, coconut rice! (PS If you’ve never been able to make coconut rice without it ending up a gluey mess or burning, you will love that recipe – my team and I worked so hard to crack the perfect coconut rice!).
Add a side of freshness with some raw slices or chunks of cucumber and tomato, Thai-style. No dressing, just plain. It sounds boring, but because the meat is so flavourful and juicy, the freshness really works. You will crave it! Else, if you’re after a salad, try an Asian Slaw, Vermicelli Noodle Salad (the fresh mint here really works) or the Thai Chicken Salad minus chicken plus extra veg.
Fall back option – Asian Sesame Dressing (4 ingredients, pour and shake) with any leafy greens or steamed vegetables (lettuce, cabbage, tomato, steamed broccoli, zucchini, peas, asparagus – it works with everything!).
Enjoy! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Thai Grilled Chicken (Gai Yang)
Ingredients
- 2 lb / 1 kg chicken thigh fillets (skinless, boneless) (Note 1)
Marinade
- 1 large lemongrass stalk , white part only, reedy outer layers removed, sliced 5mm / 1/5" thick (Note 2 tube paste sub)
- 4 cloves garlic , peeled (whole)
- 2 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce , or any all-purpose soy or tamari (Note 3)
- 2 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 3)
- 3 tbsp (tightly packed) brown sugar or palm sugar
- 2 tbsp oil , vegetable, canola, or any other neutral flavoured oil
Sauce options *optional*- CHOOSE ONE
- Nam Jim Jaew – traditional Thai Dipping Sauce for meat *RECOMMENDED*
- Lime Sweet Chilli Sauce from Thai Beef Bowls recipe (quick to make)
- Bottle of sweet chilli sauce
Garnishes / sides
- Lime wedges
- Red chili , finely sliced (optional)
- Cilantro / coriander leaves (optional)
- Coconut rice
Instructions
- Blitz – Place Marinade ingredients EXCEPT oil in a jug just large enough to fit the head of a stick blender. Blitz until lemongrass and garlic is fully pureed. (No stick blender? Finely grate lemongrass and garlic, then mix)
- Marinate – Pour in a bowl. Add oil, stir. Add chicken, toss to thoroughly coat. Cover and marinate overnight (my bare minimum is 3 hours). No marinating time? Finely slice, toss in marinade then cook like a stir-fry.
- Heat the outdoor BBQ grill on high or a non stick pan over high heat on the stove.
- Cook – Remove chicken from the Marinade and discard the Marinade (unless baking in the oven – refer Note 3). Put chicken on the BBQ or in the pan, then turn heat down to medium (sweet marinade = prone to burning). Cook the chicken until golden brown – around 5 to 6 minutes on each side. (If it burns, flip straight away. You can flip repeatedly, as needed.)
- Rest and serve – Rest for 3 minutes. Serve alongside a mound of steamy coconut rice with lime wedges, garnished with fresh chilies and coriander/cilantro, and your chosen sauce.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published 2015. Updated in 2025 with improved marinade, sparkling new photos, a recipe video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added! I updated the marinade to reduce the number of ingredients but still deliver the same quality flavour – for example, I removed honey and increased sugar slightly. I removed Chinese cooking wine because it’s not traditionally used in Gai Yang, and I didn’t feel the recipe was lacking when I took it out. And finally, I reverted to using a stick blender which is not only faster than finely minced lemongrass and garlic, but also extracts more flavour out of the lemongrass.
Life of Dozer
Dozer had his Story Time Spectacular on the weekend, to celebrate the launch of Row Row Row your Boat (with Monsters!)! This is the children’s book featuring Dozer which is raising money for One Meal, the food relief charity that distributes our RecipeTin Meals to those in need.
There was a run sheet and schedule and scripts, we did rehearsals and all knew our roles.
Does it surprise anyone that nothing went to plan?? 😂 “Never work with children or dogs,” they said! Meanwhile, I spent 80% of the time stroking Dozer’s head trying to keep him calm as he barked persistently, irritated he was trapped in the row boat rather than waddling around the stage like the star he thinks he should have been.🤣
He became particularly bark-y when children were brought up on stage to join in the interactive reading part!
And here’s the author, Adam Simpson. He’s actually my company lawyer – that’s the connection! Is your lawyer as fun as mine?? 🤣 Adam wrote the book and is donating all his royalties to One Meal.
Dozer and I also treated the kids to some Dozer cookies! These were made by Claudia from Monogram Cookies. I’ve used her a few times now, it’s such a great way to do an edible thank-you gift for large numbers and be able to customise it with a message, or branding etc. and I think it’s very good value for what you get. Plus she’s local to my area (Drummoyne – though services all of Sydney), makes the whole process seamless and is such a lovely person to work with. I’m going to use her for some Christmas cookies for gifting too!
It was a big day for Mr Dozer! He’s spent the last couple of days slothing – and he deserves it. He’s an old creaky boy now (almost 14!) and technically in retirement, but was happy to come out of retirement for this good cause!
PS In case you didn’t pick it, the vehicle below is a row boat! Dozer was tucked in with Madeline, the daughter of the author Adam.
Love you Dozer! Sharing these experiences with you is so special, especially in your golden years. You make everything more fun! – N x
We just got a patio grill! These chickens have the perfect grilled marks! Love the lemongrass, garlic, chili and lime marinade. Sounds incredible! I will bookmark this recipe for my grill list! Will try this soon!
OOOH!!! Whole world of grilling for you to discover!! 🙂 You’re going to have some fun and I’m looking forward to reading what you share!
Heyya… I am so looking forward to have a BBQ again and this is just the sort of dish I would cook on the grill – I know I say nearly every post but this is so my kind of food – thanks Nagi and hope you are having a good week..:)Moreover, This is exactly the kind of dish my husband and I love to make together! On the weekends we like to find something great to make on the grill and it always seems to be either Middle Eastern in flavor or Thai.
That could be me talking!!! I adore Middle Eastern and Asian BBQ’s 🙂 I’m having a great week! Hope you’re having a good week too. Weekend is here – yay!! Even if you don’t have a BBQ, this is fab made on the stove. Hope you have a great weekend!
Nothing perks me up on a Thursday like an INSANE marinade!!!! But here is a serious question – I have a tube of Lemongrass paste in my fridge (don’t ask me why, I’ll never tell, it’s shameful). Are you familiar with this, and if so, do you know if I can use it in your INSANE marinade? Love me some chicken thighs. 🙂 PINNING!
There’s no shame in that!! A Malaysian friend told me that most Malaysians have frozen finely chopped lemongrass on hand all the time cause it’s used in so many dishes and it’s so handy. It would totally work for the marinade!! I don’t know how strong the flavour is but I’d start with 1 tbsp. The marinade should have a fairly decent lemongrass fragrance but not overpower it, if you know what I mean? Love to know what you think if you do try it! And I’d really love to know how much lemongrass paste you use so I can add that into the recipe! 🙂
Oh, I am so looking forward to have a BBQ again and this is just the sort of dish I would cook on the grill – I know I say nearly every post but this is so my kind of food – thanks Nagi and hope you are having a good week – it is cold here! Winter:-(
It’s so funny, the words I find myself constantly writing on YOUR blog are “Oooh, this is totally my kind of food!!” OR “I just made something similar last week!!” (Usually followed by “but mine wasn’t as good as yours, the spice combination you’ve used is fantastic!”) 🙂
Oh my! that looks so delectable it’s putting my sad little dinner sandwich to shame!
I had a tray of plain roasted veggies last night. Your sandwich wins. 🙂
After weeks of indulging me in my preferred choice of cuts of chicken (thigh fillets and thigh cutlets), it’s time I made something with a cut of chicken that J Daddy likes – chicken breast. This is going in next week’s menu!!!
J Daddy’s preferred cut is chicken breast….??? Have you tried converting him? 😉
Hahahahah – I’m trying my best to convert J Daddy, and I’m making progress. I don’t think he’ll ever be fully convinced that any other cut of chicken is better than the breast. He likes the leanness of the breast meat and has been known to make faces at the fatty bits in the thigh fillets, and trust me, I trim and trim and trim those little fillets to try and avoid those looks. In the 20 weeks I’ve been on this cooking odyssey, I’ve cooked many many chicken dishes, and have used breast meat in no more than half a dozen dishes. Let’s put it this way – he’s at least now eating the chicken thigh cutlets without complaint, but it sure took a while!
Another thing he absolutely cannot stand is chicken skin, unless it’s the deep fried chicken skin from our friends’ restaurant (PappaRich Broadway). So with any of your dishes where you call for the chicken skin to be cooked so the fat is rendered to get the skin crispy, I cook the chicken as per your instructions, and just before serving, I pull the skin off his piece/s of chicken and put it on my plate. I love the skin. Love love love the skin. So, Win/Win, right?
I think I’m going to use both cuts of meat next week – breast for him and thigh fillet for me. We can swap and compare the flavours, and he’ll be happy that he’s getting breast meat for a change!
You crack me up!! And Pappa Rich in Broadway is your friends?? SO COOL! I’ve been there a few times!! 🙂
I wanted to just swing by and grab one of those delicious chicken pieces off your plate, but would not want to ruin your beautiful photography. The longer overnight marinade time really makes a difference in both the taste and the tenderness of this dish. You have a dog right? When you are doing a photography shoot why don’t you have little doggie noses and paws in the photos, like I have, or did you already crop those out? LOL Pinning and Sharing!
He’s sitting UNDER the table in a puddle of drool. It’s disgusting. I used to kick him outside while I was shooting but I take too long. So he just suffers silently. He never takes his eyes off him, follows my every movement.
Like those gorgeous brown eyes are going to make me break. No no!! At least, not this type of food. Too much garlic in it – bad for dogs!! 🙂
Gai yang is one of my absolute faves. So easy to prepare and all you need to do is grill or bbq it. Made it a few nights go and already have some more chicken marinating in the fridge! Love it!
It’s delish isn’t it? I find that without a proper charcoal grill, the authentic marinade isn’t enough. I really like this version, bit more flavour in the marinade to make up for lack of charcoal flavour. 🙂 I bet you have a killer Gai Yang recipe. Only fair to share! 🙂
that sauce! i will gladly ask for the dip, all of it! haha. Beautiful recipe and picture. I don’t i would be able to use my fork, just hands to gnaw down on it! haha
You think I used a fork to eat this the minute I snapped the last picture? Nope, not a chance. The minute I called “finished!” there were 4 pairs of hands reaching in to grab the chicken and we stood around the table eating every single scrap!! N x
I am looking for the word more than Gorgeous,( I know I’ll remember later), but this is how I feel about this beauty queen chicken dish. I hope that makes sense 🙂
You are so sweet! Thank you so much 🙂 N xx
Company is coming to visit (Dave’s mom!) so this might have to hit the grill this weekend, looks incredible.
OOOhhhhh!! I would be so honoured if you made this for Dave’s mom!! 😉
Made this yesterday to rave reviews. 6 thumbs up!
We loved it Nagi and the flavors were superb. 🙂
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Kevin!! SO honoured that you tried it 🙂 Thanks for coming back to let me know!! N x
A dish definitely true to its roots! This is exactly the kind of dish my husband and I love to make together! On the weekends we like to find something great to make on the grill and it always seems to be either Middle Eastern in flavor or Thai. They sure know how to grill some serious food in Thailand – I just love all of the bold flavors. And fish sauce… such an incredible ingredient in grilling! I’m totally making these on our next grill party!
SAME!! We are so alike it is scary!! Middle Eastern is my other “go to” grilling 🙂 Oh, and Mexican is fast becoming a fave too!!
I love Thai food, so I’m looking forward to trying this. It’s also great that it doesn’t require a stove (don’t have one where I am at the beach).
I hope you love it Susan!! The marinade flavour really is incredible. The smell when it’s cooking is a killer!! 🙂
Oh wow – Nagi, your photos are phenomenal all the time – but these just blew my mind! Wow! Not only does the chicken look incredibly mouthwatering, but your composition is stellar! I’ve never had chicken gai yang before – you are right, sometimes, it is necessary to stay as close to the roots of a cuisine/dish as possible, but I do love that you made a marinade of what the dipping sauce would have been for this!
Thanks so much Shashi, you’re so sweet! I’m enjoying doing larger food spreads 🙂 I literally just pretend I’m setting up a table for a BBQ lunch. That’s what I shoot!! 🙂
I’m so excited to try this recipe, Nagi, for (at least!) two good reasons. One, our farmer’s market season starts today and my favorite booth sells big juicy lemongrass stalks (and Chinese broccoli which is my fav veggie ever); two because it’s supposed to be really hot this weekend and I’ve been looking for a grill recipe. Perfect! And stunning photos as always my dear.
OOOH!!!! You are going to LOVE it!! And Chinese broccoli is me FAVE veggie too!! I love it because it isn’t as “watery” as other Chinese veggies. I use it in everything!! It’s a standard part of my weekly shop. Have you ever used it for fried rice? I chopped it up and threw it in rice – an ENTIRE bunch for rice to serve 2, so healthy and SO YUMMY!!! N x
I know what you mean! I could eat the entire bunch myself…But, believe it or not I can’t find it in a single grocery store here – so I have to wait for the farmer’s market. So no Chinese broccoli for me between November and June – can you imagine!? 😉
You have done it again! You made me ruin another keyboard while drooling! I love the burned citrus…it adds such a tremendous flavor. I have to say my dear…I literally WAIT for your recipes to hit my email daily. I love seeing those amazing bright photos and your tag lines! Fantastic as always!
My tag lines?? I burst out into laughter! I don’t even know what you’re referring to! He he he! N x
Well I’m glad I can make you laugh 🙂 You know your little lines that sell the post!
Oh my gosh – this looks divine with those grill marks all over the meat. I once spent a few days in Bangkok on my own, ‘on my way’ to Australia, and pretty much spent the whole time eating the street food there. Never came across this, though. Better go back to taste it!
Although now I have this recipe of yours! Pinning for sure!
Isn’t Thailand AWESOME!!! I go nuts with the food every time I go!! (And – touch wood – I never get Bali Belly in Thailand!!)
Hi Nagi! This looks wonderful with all that thick glaze! I always buy thighs because they are so much tastier and a lot less costly.
Same! I don’t get the chicken breast thing. If I were counting calories, I would eat LESS chicken thigh rather than more chicken breast!
Hi Nagi! I don’t believe in counting calories – I eat everything I want, just not in mass quantity. You should never deny yourself anything, just don’t pig out! 🙂
I just want to reach through the screen and grab a piece! The chicken looks so appetizing, Nagi. I’m always in awe of your photography!
I just saw you posted a Smore’s cheesecake…..I had to wipe my chin!!
Great minds think alike! I just posted a grilled chicken recipe with a citrus marinade that I added fish sauce and brown sugar to for a Vietnamese flair (though a little westernised). Your photos are gorgeous. I’ll have to give this recipe a try. You can never have too many grilled chicken recipes.
I LOVE Vietnamese!! I have one on my blog for wings. Personal favourite 🙂 I must have a look at yours! Popping over to have a read! N x